Slumdog Millionaire picks pace at US box office; tots $43 mn

Slumdog MillionaireMUMBAI: Following its sweep of the Golden Globe Awards last Sunday, Slumdog Millionaire jumped back into the North American Top Ten this weekend.

Now in its tenth week in theatres, the movie grossed $5,900,000 over the 16 – 18 January weekend, which was up 56 per cent from its last weekend gross. And this despite the fact that it is playing in 582 theatres, which is 19 less from last weekend.

The movie, which has been made on a budget of $ 15 million, has so far grossed $42.74 million. In North America, Slumdog Millionaire’s weekend gross in its tenth week in theaters even surpassed the lifetime grosses of Aamir Khan’s Ghajini, and Shah Rukh Khan’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and the recently released Akshay Kumar starrer Chandni Chowk To China – combined.

With more mainstream multiplexes interested in playing the Danny Boyle-directed film now, Fox Searchlight will expand its run this Friday to approximately 1,300 theaters. On Thursday, 22 January, Academy Award nominations will be announced and Slumdog Millionaire could score multiple Oscar nominations. 22 January is also when the Indian premiere of the movie is slated to take place in Mumbai which the cast and crew are likely to attend. The movie will release with more than 200 prints in India in Hindi and English.